Rim lift bins

ABSTRACT

A rim lift bin has a main body member substantially rectangular in horizontal section. The body member has a relatively long bottom tapered section tapering outwardly and upwardly, a relatively short intermediate tapered section above the bottom tapered section which tapers upwardly and outwardly at an angle greater than the bottom tapered section, a first vertical section connected to the top of the intermediate tapered section, an upper tapered section connected to the top of the first vertical section, and a second vertical section extending upwardly from the upper tapered section. A channel rim member having a bottom leg extending upwardly and outwardly at a slight angle, a top leg and a vertical base connecting the legs is fastened to the main body member above the center of gravity of the bin. This arrangement permits nesting and easy handling of the bins.

United States Patent Gibson et al.

1541 RIM LIFT BINS [72] Inventors: Charles 1. Gibson, Moorestown, N.J.;Wayne 'A. Maley, Moon Township, Allegheny County, Pa.

[73] Assignee: United States Steel Corporation [22] Filed: Dec. 9, 1970[21] Appl. No.: 96,495

[52] US. Cl. ..220/97 C, 220/71 [51] Int. Cl ..B65d 21/02, B65d 7/44[58] Field of Search ..220/97 C, 97 F, 71; 215/10 [451 Dec.5,1972

Primary Examiner-George E. Lowrance Attorney-Martin J. Carroll [57]ABSTRACT mediate tapered section, an upper tapered section connected tothe top of the first vertical section, and a second vertical sectionextending upwardly from the upper tapered section. A channel rim memberhaving a bottom leg extending upwardly and outwardly at a slight angle,a top leg and a vertical base connecting the legs is fastened to themain body member above the center of gravity of the bin. Thisarrangement per- [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,049,9778/1936 Ross ..220/71 X 2,822,951 2/1958 Tartaglia ..220/97 C X FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS mits nesting and easy handling of the bins.609,141 9/1948 Great Britain ..220/97 C 1,490,636 6/ 1967 France..220/97 C 10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTED 5|972 I 3,704,808

sum 1 or 2 FIG.

INVENTORS CHARLES I. GIBSON 8 WAYNE/1. MALE) By if cost of handling. Onetype of such bin is disclosed in a.

pamphlet entitled Rim' Lift System published by United States SteelCorporation in May of 1968. How,- ever, the bin disclosed therein didnot prove satisfactory in service because it did not track properly whenmounted on a conveyor and had other disadvantages, includingmanufacturing and handling difficulties. v

It is therefore an object of our invention to provide a rim lift binwhich is relatively easy to manufacture and whichmay be readily nested.4

Another'object is to provide such a bin which best utilizes the materialto obtain maximum strength and capacity. t

These and other objects will be more apparent after referring to thefollowing specification and attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of one embodiment .of our invention with partsbroken away and shown in section and also showing one bin nested withinanother;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the bin of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an elevation of a second embodiment of our invention with apart broken away to show a detail.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. land '2 of the drawings, referencenumeral 2 indicates a main body member of the rim lift bin of ourinvention. This is preferably made of sheet steel which in oneparticular case is 20 gauge. The member 2 is generally rectangular inshape and is preferably square with rounded corners as shown. The member2 has a relatively long tapered section4 which extends upwardly and outwardly. In one specific 47inch high bin this is 22 b incheslong. A shortvertical section 6 may be provided at the bottom of section 4. A shortintermediate tapered section 10 is connected to the top of section 4.and tapers upwardly and outwardly a short distance at a steeper anglethan section 4 to provide strength. The top of section 10 merges with afirst vertical section 12 which has a length substantially greater thanthat of tapered section .10. The top of section 12 merges with an uppertapered section 14 which tapers upwardly and outwardly for the samedistance and at the same angle as section 10 to a second verticalsection 16. An angle 18 extends around and is welded to the inside ofsection 6 with its inwardly extending leg extending horizontally at thetop of section 6. The angle 18 is preferably in a plurality of sectionswelded together end to end. A sheet steel bottom member 20 rests on andis welded to the angle 18. A plurality of spaced apart angles 22 extendin parallel relationship below the bottom 20 with their legs extendingupwardly and welded to the bottom of the member 20 so as to provideV-shaped reinforcing members. The angles 22 may be omitted and the '12and the bottom of section 16.- The U-shaped member 24 extends completelyaround the outside of the. body member 2. Bottom leg 30 of the member 24extends upwardly and outwardly from the bottom flange at a relativelysmall angle which may be between 5 and 20, but is preferably 10. A topleg 32 extends downwardly and outwardly from the top flange at arelatively large angle such as 45. The outer ends of the top and bottomlegsare connected by a vertical base 34. The bottom leg 30 should belocated above the center of gravity of the bin and is preferably locatedbetween 20 and 25 percent of the bin height below the top of the bin. Arectangular tubular member 36 extends around and is welded to theoutside of the top of vertical section 16. The member 36 may be. omittedwhen the U-shaped member 24 is mounted at the top of the bin; Also, arolled top edge could be used in place of the member 36. Regardless ofhow the top of the bin is finished it will be seen that a top edgesurface is ob tainedwhi'ch is connected to the upper vertical section.

The bin is adapted to be supported upon and to be moved along a-conveyorincluding a series of spaced apart-rollers 38 which are preferablyarranged for rotation about axes tilted from the horizontal at the sameangle as leg 30. The rolls may also be arranged for'rotation abouthorizontal axes if their supporting peripheral surfaces are arranged atthe same angle as leg 30.

In handling the bin the surface 34 acts as a spacer between bins andalso acts as a bumper to prevent damage to adjacent bins. FIG. 1 showshow two bins are nested, one within the other. It will be seen that therim member 24 of the top bin rests on he stiffener 36 of the bottom binand that the sections 12, 10 and 4 of the top bin are within sections16, 14 and sections 12, 10 and 4, respectively of the bottom bin.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of our invention having a main bodymember 2' made of welded wire steel mesh. It will be seen that this binhas a bottom tapered section 4, an intermediate tapered portion 10, afirst vertical portion 12', an upper tapered portion 14' and a secondvertical portion 16'.

Angles 18f are attached to the bottomof the welded wire fabric 2'. Awelded wire fabric member 20 rests on top of the angles 18' and iswelded thereto. Reinforcing angles 22' are welded to the bottom of themember 20'. The construction so far described is essentially the same asthat for the first embodiment except that the body member 2 is made ofwelded wire fabric rather than of sheet steel. A channel rim member 24'made of sheet steel has the same construction as member 24 and is weldedto fabric 21 in the same posi tion as member 24. A rectangular tubularmember 36 having the same construction as member 36 extends around andis welded to the outside of the top of the vertical section 16'. Thecorners of the bin 2' may be reinforced by steel angles 40 and thebottom reinforced by steel angles 42. This bin is lighter than the binof the first embodiment and provides maximum air circulation andvisibility of the content.

While two embodiments of our invention have been shown and described, itwill be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A rim lift bin comprising a main body member substantiallyrectangular in horizontal section, said main body portion having arelatively long bottom tapered section tapering upwardly and outwardly,a relatively short intermediate tapered section above and connected tosaid bottom tapered section tapering upwardly and outwardly at an anglegreater than the bottom tapered section, a first vertical sectionextending upwardly from said intermediate tapered section, an uppertapered section tapering upwardly and outwardly from said first verticalsection for approximately the same distance and at approximately thesame angle as the intermediate tapered section, a second verticalsection extending upwardly from said upper tapered section, and a topedge surface connected to said upper vertical section; a channel rimmember having a bottom leg, a top leg, and a generally vertical baseconnecting the outer ends of said top and bottom legs; means connectingsaid rim member to said body member with the bottom leg above the centerof gravity of said bin and its generally vertical base positionedoutwardly beyond said upper vertical section; nd a bottom member securedto said main body member, said bottom leg being adapted to engage thetop edge surface of another bin when in nested relationship therewith.

2. A rim lift bin according to claim 1 in which said bottom leg extendsupwardly and outwardly of said rim member from said body member at anangle of between and 20.

3. A rim lift bin according to claim 2 in which said main body memberand said bottom member are made of sheet steel.

4. A rim lift bin according to claim 3 in which said channel rim memberis made of sheet steel and has lower and upper flanges secured to saidfirst and second vertical sections respectively.

5. A rim lift bin according to claim 4 including a rectangular tubularmember extending around and welded to the outside of the top of saidmain body member, an angle extending around and having one leg welded tothe inside of the bottom of said main body member and its other legextending inwardly from the top of said one leg for supporting saidbottom member, and a plurality of reinforcing members secured to thebottom of said bottom member. v

6. A rim lift bin according to claim 5 in which the said bottom leg ofsaid rim member extends upwardly and outwardly at an angle ofapproximately 10.

7. A rim lift bin according to claim 2 in which said main body memberand said bottom member are made

1. A rim lift bin comprising a main body member substantiallyrectangular in horizontal section, said main body portion having arelatively long bottom tapered section tapering upwardly and outwardly,a relatively short intermediate tapered section above and connected tosaid bottom tapered section tapering upwardly and outwardly at an anglegreater than the bottom tapered section, a first vertical sectionextending upwardly from said intermediate tapered section, an uppertapered section tapering upwardly and outwardly from said first verticalsection for approximately the same distance and at approximately thesame angle as the intermediate tapered section, a second verticalsection extending upwardly from said upper tapered section, and a topedge surface connected to said upper vertical section; a channel rimmember having a bottom leg, a top leg, and a generally vertical baseconnecting the outer ends of said top and bottom legs; means connectingsaid rim member to said body member with the bottom leg above the centerof gravity of said bin and its generally vertical base positionedoutwardly beyond said upper vertical section; nd a bottom member securedto said main body member, said bottom leg being adapted to engage thetop edge surface of another bin when in nested relationship therewith.2. A rim lift bin according to claim 1 in which said bottom leg extendsupwardly and outwardly of said rim member from said body member at anangle of between 5* and 20*.
 3. A rim lift bin according to claim 2 inwhich said main body member and said bottom member are made of sheetsteel.
 4. A rim lift bin according to claim 3 in which said channel rimmember is made of sheet steel and has lower and upper flanges secured tosaid first and second vertical sections respectively.
 5. A rim lift binaccording to claim 4 including a rectangular tubular member extendingaround and welded to the outside of the top of said main body member, anangle extending around and having one leg welded to the inside of thebottom of said main body member and its other leg extending inwardlyfrom the top of said one leg for supporting said bottom member, and aplurality of reinforcing members secured to the bottom of said bottommember.
 6. A rim lift bin according to claim 5 in which the said bottomleg of said rim member extends upwardly and outwardly at an angle ofapproximately 10*.
 7. A rim lift bin according to claim 2 in which saidmain body member and said bottom member are made of welded wire steelmesh.
 8. A rim lift bin according to claim 7 in which said channel rimmember is made of sheet steel and has lower and upper flanges secured tosaid first and second vertical sections respectively.
 9. A rim lift binaccording to claim 8 in which the said bottom leg of said rim memberextends upwardly and outwardly at an angle of approximately 10*.
 10. Arim lift bin according to claim 9 including steel reinforcing angles atthe corners of said main body member.